By Vincent Nwanma
The Nigerian economy, which exited a recession in December 2020, grew at a real rate of 5.01 percent in the second quarter of this year, the highest since the last quarter of 2014.
This is much higher than a decline of -6.1 percent recorded in the comparable quarter of 2020, as well as the 0.51 percent recorded in the first quarter of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics said in its report.
The positive growth recorded in the second quarter of the year marks three consecutive quarters of growth following the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020, the NBS noted.
This performance, according to the NBS, indicates “the return of business and economic activity near levels seen prior to the nationwide implementation of COVID-19 related restrictions”.
Nigeria slide into recession in the third quarter of last year after the GDP fell for two consecutive quarters, on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nigeria exited that recession with a GDP growth rate of just 0.11 percent. The country had previously fallen into recession in 2016.
The non-oil sector grew by 6.74% in real terms during the quarter, and was driven mainly by growth in trade, information and communication, transportation, among others, according to the report.
The growth may have been partly buoyed by the low base effect of GDP numbers in 2020 Q2, when the 3conomy shrunk 6.1%, as the size of the economy in 2020 Q2, some N16.9trillion remains below the 2019Q2 GDP size of N17.1trillion.
